


phantoms

by heavydirtymigraine



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Blurryface, Ghosts, Insanity, Jenna is tylers best friend, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Self-Harm, Vessel, the entire fic is around josh being dead, trench, twenty one pilots - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavydirtymigraine/pseuds/heavydirtymigraine
Summary: tyler's moving into a new house to escape the past that took the love of his life away from him. he isn't expecting for said love to show up again.
Relationships: Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph, Tyler Joseph - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> loosely based off of the album phantoms by marianas trench. enjoy!

the moving truck was being doused in rain as it approached it's destination. the tires were covered in mud and the rain droplets hitting the windshield were being wiped off as fast as the wiper blades would allow. with all things taken into consideration, the day could definitely be going better.

with a loud groan, the brakes halted the truck, parked in front of where it was supposed to have headed. the engine cut off, and the driver stepped out, staring up at the new house in front of him that he was trying to begin to call home.

rubbing his shaved head, he clasped the keys with his opposite hand, heading up towards the door and fumbling for the old skeleton key that hung off of his lanyard. water was dripping down his face, rolling off of his coat, and he was grumbling to himself as he swung open the front door and stepped inside, fumbling blindly for the lights.

the switch was just next to the door, luckily, so a dim light illuminated the entryway to the house. he was looking around. the floors were dusty.

"tyler!" a voice came from behind him. he looked back, the passenger in the truck was making her way towards him, umbrella in tow.

"come on, jenna," tyler called out, holding the door open for her and letting it slam when she was inside. she shook off the umbrella and set it next to the door.

"the world had to have chosen today for it to rain," she noted, a bit bitterly, as she pulled off her jacket. tyler was watching her, a grim smile on his face. 

"yeah, i chose a bad day to move, huh?" 

jenna dropped her coat onto the floor. "you did," she retorted, giving him a warm smile. 

absentmindedly picking at his thumbs, tyler stepped forward, looking to go explore the rest of the house. it was his first time inside of it, truthfully. he hadn't seen the inside of it before buying it. he didn't need to. he just needed to get away from where he had been.

the house wasn't something he'd usually swing for. it was ancient, an old queen anne's victorian style house, on the outskirts of columbus, ohio. the realtor had mentioned it was built in 1904, towards the end of the queen anne's style lifecycle, and was in wonderful condition given the circumstances of the house. the heating worked, and while it was dusty, was mostly fully furnished and functional. 

his previous house was a small flat in a high rise building downtown. it was definitely a needed change of scenery. he was surrounded by woods here, and it was vastly different than he had been used to

the realtor had been right about the dust. tyler could barely breathe as he stepped further into the house. the floors were supposedly made from black walnut - something that seemed obvious with how dark the flooring itself was. it was in no contrast to the walls, though, archways and old victorian crown moulding. fleur de lis wallpaper was plastering the walls of the grand entry hall, and a grand staircase was opposite of the front door. it split off onto either direction, leading to each of the wings of the house, disappearing up and out of sight. 

tyler glanced at jenna for a moment before taking the archway to his left. to the left of the house was the west wing, which on the lower floor held the kitchen and the dining hall. cobwebs were hitting tyler in the face as he headed to the kitchen. his nose was filled with the scent of dirt and musk from years of sitting empty. 

"how long did you say this place was empty?" jenna called out to tyler. 

"the realtor said it hadn't been touched in like, ten years?" tyler had responded, looking around as he entered the kitchen finally. the trademark black and white tiles adorned the floor. a medium colored wood covered the walls and the appliances looked like they hadn't been updated since the house was built. a gas stove was to his left, and the marble countertops were chipped at the edges. 

tyler didn't want to even dare to open the fridge. he flipped on the kitchen light, and saw nothing but inches and inches of dust and cobwebs. 

deciding to backtrack, he turned around to go find jenna. she'd be somewhere easy to access, especially since she wasn't a huge fan of spiders or bugs, so he knew she'd be close by. 

jenna had been tyler's best friend since they were kids. they were now in their mid twenties, tyler 24, and jenna 25, respectively, and had known each other since around preschool. they lived on the same block and had no other kids around, so naturally they were drawn to playing with each other. 

jenna was peering up the stairway when tyler reentered the entryway. 

"jen, come on, we should probably start unloading." 

"should we at least dust the house first? the only stuff we have to bring in is all your music stuff, and we have the rental truck for another day." 

tyler sighed, giving her a pained face. she knew he hated cleaning more than anything, but she was right in her statement.

"yeah, okay. let's dust first." 

jenna clambered back down the steps, giving him a smile. she headed towards the door, pulling it open, to reveal the rain was beginning to lighten up a bit. "look, good timing!" 

she jumped outside, heading over to the truck as tyler dragged his feet behind her. undoing the latch, she pulled the door up and grabbed the box of cleaning supplies that was waiting in the back.

tyler's mind was roaming, and jenna gave him a smack on the arm as she headed back inside to pull him back to reality. 

"let's go clean your new house, ty." 

snapping out of his thoughts, tyler nodded. it was going to be a lot of work.

\- 

seven and a half hours and two pizzas later, they had finally almost finished. the blankets and pillows from the beds were currently drying in the ancient dryer downstairs. tyler and jenna were sitting in the master bedroom, in the east wing, eating on the pizza they had ordered. the whole house reeked of bleach.

tyler was just glad to have gotten it cleaned. jenna was planning on spending the night with him in one of the guest bedrooms, just to help unpack in the morning. the rain had mostly stopped and from the upper level's windows, they could just barely see columbus out in the distance from the hill the house rested on. it was foggy, but the light was unmistakable. 

"feel better?" jenna finally spoke, gnawing on some of the crust. tyler nodded, staring down at the mattress underneath of them, lost in his own thoughts.

"this'll be good for you." jenna's voice made him look up at her and give her a small smile.

"i hope so." 

"do you think you were ready to move on?" jenna asked quietly. "i know you had both lived in that flat for a while together, it must've been hard to let go." 

tyler froze up. he didn't want to think about the recent events in his life, but he couldn't run from them for forever.

he didn't want to move on, but he didn't have any other choice. the flat was suffocating him.

"i don't know, j." tyler said honestly through a bite of cheese. his hands were shaky, so he set the pizza down on the inside of the lid and then brought his knees up to his chest. "i miss him, y'know?"

jenna nodded. she most definitely knew. "i know, ty. what happened should never have happened to you, or to him." 

"josh." tyler said quietly. "his name was josh." 

"i know his name was josh." she placed a reassuring hand onto tyler's shoulder. "i loved him as much as i love you, tyler." 

was. 

tears were wetting tyler's cheeks before he even realized he was crying.

"we were going to get married." tyler mumbled out, rubbing his cheeks with a greasy hand. "we lived together, we had everything planned-" 

"i know." jenna scooted closer to tyler and wrapped her arms around him. he gladly accepted the hug, sobbing into her shoulder as he brought his own arms to wrap around her. "we all miss him." 

it had been just over three weeks since the love of tyler's life had died. tyler doesn't remember much of the few days where everything transpired. he remembers the calls of a bad car wreck in the snow. he remembers the smell of the lemon scented cleaner at the hospital and the smell of hand sanitizer. the beeping of the life support machines. too much medicine and blood bags and too little of josh.

the doctors had told him he had went fast but tyler remembers that it took exactly seventeen hours and fourty one minutes for josh to die since entering the hospital. he remembers josh getting six different bags of blood from donors, he remembers all of the different tests they ran. he remembers not much more than that other than the words 'severe head trauma' and 'internal hemorrhaging' and 'amputation'. 

they had been dating for 3 years, 7 months and 10 days when josh died. they owned a condo together and were in a mildly successful band.

josh was 24 when he died.

tyler was turning 25 in two weeks and josh wasn't going to be there to celebrate with him.


	2. 2

the next morning proved to be more successful. the first night in the house was eerie, and jenna was claiming the place had to be haunted. but the rain had finally fully stopped, so they were able to start unloading all of tyler's musical equipment to the room he had chosen to be his practicing room. it was one of the three bedrooms upstairs in the east wing, and they had spent all day moving the furniture around and the bed into the basement so there'd be room for tyler's piano, mixing station, and guitars. 

the room was a dark blood colored wallpaper accompanied by the same black walnut floors that ran throughout the rest of the house. there was no attached bathroom and only one small window on the back wall, which let a fair amount of light in, for how small it was. 

tyler was thankful that there was at least modern electricity. the previous owners had decided to upgrade the house a bit, with modern heating, air conditioning, and electricity, as well as a washer and dryer. he had all the amenities he really needed but the house retained all of it's other original features. he was able to plug his mixing station in right away and get his laptop set up to what he needed. 

tyler's main piano stayed downstairs in the living room. it was too heavy to bring up the steps, and especially through a small door, so he only had his electronic piano with him upstairs, neatly unfolded against one of the walls along with the small stool that paired with it. 

jenna had run out to go grab both of them breakfast, so tyler was taking the opportunity to finish up the rest of the boxes designated for the music room. he'd only have to unpack his clothes, toiletries, and his kitchenware later. but he could do that when jenna wasn't around. 

the box before him was just full of miscellaneous decorations, so tyler found himself hanging pictures and little trinkets on the walls to occupy some of the empty wall space. the aesthetic of the room fit nicely with everything he had brought to decorate with - a few pictures in black frames of him and josh, one of those award records for selling so many copies of their last album, some basic skull decor, and a string of fairy lights. it felt homey. 

the photos on the wall tyler found himself staring at until jenna shocked him out of the dissociative state he was in by tapping on his back.

"it looks good in here." she commented, now acknowledging that tyler was just completely in another dimension. she had to have known, but didn't want to bring it up in case it made him upset. tyler loved that about her, she always knew. maybe if he hadn't have fallen in love with josh, he would've been with her. she'd have made a good spouse.

but tyler was gay and jenna was asexual, so it didn't really matter in the end anyways. 

"thanks." tyler said back, giving a warm smile. he was proud of how the room looked, since he didn't want to change anything about the rest of the house. it gave a weird vibe off that he enjoyed, with all of the ancient furniture and decor. spooky, but elegant. something he really loved. 

"i got you some strawberry pancakes," jenna shoved a box into tylers hands, moving to go sit down on the bench that sat against the opposite wall from the piano. "there's some bacon and hashbrowns in there too. there's this cool diner only like thirty minutes from here." 

"thirty minutes?" tyler asked, turning to sit down onto the floor as he opened the box.

"you live in the middle of nowhere." she smiled, opening her own food container. "even the local grocery store is like, twenty minutes away." 

"oh no," tyler groaned out. "will you go out to that with me later today?" 

jenna let out a laugh, and tyler felt a pang of adoration shoot through his stomach. it was an obvious yes, she was laughing at him for even asking.

"duh. we'll get you stocked, don't worry." 

they ate in a comfortable silence. the pancakes jenna had picked up were great, expectedly, and the styrofoam and plastic silverware meant they didn't have to do any real cleaning up. they both finished up their food before cleaning up and heading back downstairs. the lights were off, which despite it being daytime, gave the house an odd vibe to it. it felt so lonely. it was such a big house for one person.

maybe that's what tyler needed, though. space and time to think. he had the woods mostly surrounding him, and it was dense. there was wildlife all over the place. he'd never lived in a place this remote, and maybe doing so after losing josh was just what he needed to heal and to write new music for their fans. 

it was also in part because josh had always wanted to live in a house like this, but tyler didn't want to admit that that was why he bought it. he was insistent it was because of the location and because the house was selling for way lower than it should've been. the realtor had mentioned something about all sorts of energies being attracted to the house, whatever that meant. tyler didn't really believe in ghosts anyways. 

-

they were eating chinese takeout on the floor of their condo. it was late summer, and the twilight light was bouncing off of the walls around them. the moving truck was running behind, so they had no furniture to sit on. 

josh was stuffing his face full of lo mein, chewing around all of the mushrooms. he had asked for no mushrooms, but they had put them in anyway. tyler was laughing as josh choked on a mouthful of noodles as he picked at his own fried rice.

"oh fuck you," josh had said around a mouthful of food, flinging a mushroom over at tyler. 

"i just can't believe you eat so much like this, consistently. you're never clean!" tyler dodged the mushroom and it landed on the wood floor behind him with a splat. "at least use a napkin!" 

"i'm fine!" josh counter protested. there was a knock on the door, startling both of them. 

"furniture?" tyler asked, standing up and heading to go open the door. he was still holding his rice. opening the door confirmed his suspicions - the moving guy was standing on the other side.

"sorry we're late. the traffic on the highway was insane." he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. 

"that's okay, come on josh!" tyler called over his shoulder, a smile appearing on his face when he felt josh's hand come onto his back a moment later. josh pressed a kiss to tyler's cheek and took his rice from him.

"you get started. i'll put this in on the kitchen counter and follow you guys out." josh said, heading towards the empty kitchen. 

"sounds good. love you!" tyler called, heading out to follow the man out to their moving truck. 

"love you too!" 

\- 

tyler's hands were shaking as he was unloading the glasses into his kitchen cupboard. jenna had just left and for the first time in two days he was really, truly alone. he was almost done unpacking the kitchen. as soon as he finished, he'd be able to take a break and go breathe. he needed to lay down now, especially after running around shopping and unpacking all afternoon.

he was on his tip toes as he reached up to put the last of the glasses away on the top shelf. with a sigh of relief, he shut the cabinet, dropped the newspaper wrapping he was holding, and headed to go upstairs to his bedroom. the lights were off in the house, so he was using his flashlight. it was only twilight outside, but the windows didn't provide enough light to actually allow him to see. he didn't want to use one of the grand candelabras that were in the dining room. that felt like something straight out of a horror movie. 

the house creaked with every step tyler took. the floorboards were old, of course they were going to make noise, but what he didn't expect was the continuous creaking when he paused on the steps. he had stopped, and the noise had briefly continued for a moment before stopping. 

"hello?" tyler called out. he felt silly. there was no one in the house. 

shining his flashlight around, tyler looked up the staircase. there wasn't anyone there, obviously, so with calmed nerves he headed upstairs and finally to his bedroom. he shut the door behind him and flipped on the light, going to go flop down onto the comforter of the bed. it was old and musty, but had the same weird charm as the rest of the house, so he kept it. he kind of enjoyed the smell of the must. it was comforting.

he drifted asleep, dreaming of josh for the first time in three weeks since the accident.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tyler doesn't believe in ghosts.

the first real morning by himself proved to be interesting. the hot water wasn't working right, probably due to the pipes freezing from how cold the temperature had dropped to overnight, so tyler had to shower in ice cold water. it certainly woke him up, but it wasn't a pleasant way to start his morning. 

songwriting proved to be just as difficult. he was sitting in front of his laptop for roughly four hours, just staring, trying to figure out where to begin. did he even want to write anymore? josh wasn't there to be his bandmate. he couldn't be a solo act.

he owed it to his fans, at least, for one final album. he didn't want to tour for it. everyone was devastated enough with josh's passing. a tour would just be too much. but he also didn't know if the label would even approve an album after something that severe. the lyrics would be too heavy handed, too dark to see the light of day.

he was eating an apple as he sat at his desk. it was cut into pieces - to avoid eating the skin - and it was fresh. tyler couldn't remember what type of apple it was. jenna must've picked it out when they were at the store yesterday. he'd need to thank her for going with him. 

with a sigh, he reached and picked up his phone. there were a few texts from his parents, asking how moving in had gone, when could they visit, all of the typical moving questions. he opted to not respond to them and instead opened twitter. his internet hadn't been installed yet, so he was using his cellular, which was spotty due to the location. 

his timeline was still blowing up with tweets about josh. 

groaning, tyler locked his phone and buried his head in his hands. he rubbed at his hair, screwing his eyes shut, frustrated. it shouldn't have been this hard to start writing again. it was all that had ever came to him. 

"why am i like this?" tyler asked aloud to no one. he almost expected a response back. 

when he received none, he reached forward and slammed his laptop shut. the dark wood of the desk beneath him swirled from the knots in the wood, and he traced them with his eyes, hoping for some sort of comforting distraction. 

there was a knock behind him, and tyler's head shot up, looking back towards the door where the noise had come from. the door was open, but it had been beforehand. there was no one there. 

"hello?"

no response. tyler sighed. the house was old. it was going to settle over time. that was to be expected.

what tyler wasn't expecting was josh's head to appear from outside the doorframe for a split second before giving him a face and pulling back behind the doorframe once more.

"josh?" tyler called out. his eyebrows knitted together and he jumped up, racing to the hallway, frantically looking around. he was nowhere to be found. 

josh was dead.

"jesus christ, tyler." he mumbled to himself. he rubbed at his temple. "you're just stressed, is all." 

"i'm here." a voice came from behind him, all too familiar. 

tyler whipped around. nothing. 

"fuck off." tyler mumbled aloud. his mind was just screwing with him. he'd have to remind himself to tell his doctor his antidepressants weren't working as well anymore. 

moving to go sit back down at his desk, tyler reopened his laptop and half typed out some lyrics, forcing himself to think of something to jot down. they weren't great, but it was a definite distraction from what had just transpired. he could revise them later.

\- 

their first official date was at the columbus zoo. they had been already been friends for two years, with their band and all, but when tyler had finally asked josh out, he had been surprised when his bandmate had accepted.

so here they stood, standing and staring at some alligators that were half asleep and, admittedly, kind of boring to look at. 

josh was sipping on a soda from one of the vendor stalls, and around his straw, he spoke, "do they always look like they're dead?" 

"i think so?" tyler had responded, leaning and resting his arms on the fence. the alligators weren't interested in moving. "do they just hang out until food gets close to them?" 

"sounds like me," josh retorted, snorting. 

"yeah, definitely does." 

"hey!" josh defended, laughing. he stuck his tongue out at tyler, who did the same gesture in response.

"want to go to the reptile house? the lizards might be more active than the alligators."

the lizards were, in fact, not more active than the alligators. the only that was more active was a python, and only because it was feeding time. everything else was sleeping.

"well that was uneventful," josh commented as they were leaving. "i had fun today, though." 

tyler gave josh a small smile. "i did too." 

josh grabbed tyler's hand when they were outside of the exit to the zoo. "hey ty?" 

"yeah?" tyler stopped, turning to look at josh, who had stopped walking, too. josh was looking at him weird.

"this isn't going to make us being in a band together weird right?" 

"what do you mean?" 

"i mean, i had fun today. we went on a date because i feel the same way you do-" 

"yeah?"

"yeah." josh nodded. "i just don't want our fans to think any different of us, or the label to get mad at us." 

tyler nodded.

"im a bit scared of that too. isn't that something you're willing to chance though?"

josh nodded eagerly, smiling. "i think it is." 

tyler grinned. he stepped closer to josh, hesitantly, before leaning in and pressing their lips together.

pulling back, they stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. 

"no homo," josh joked, leaning forward to press another kiss to tyler's lips.

"yeah, ditto." 

-

tyler stared up at the ceiling in the bedroom. he was laying on his bed again. it was the late afternoon now, and after a whole day of unsuccessful writing, he was exhausted.

especially after that little conundrum earlier in the day.

tyler sat up finally, heaving himself forward, the dark wallpaper sucking up all of the light that was streaming in through the windows. it was dim in the room. 

there was a shadow standing in the corner of the room, vaguely human shaped. tyler reached over and switched on a light and it vanished, scared of the light. 

"weird," tyler commented to himself. he stared at the spot for a few brief moments before realizing the room was actually freezing cold. shivering, tyler stood up, heading over to his closet and grabbing a sweatshirt, pulling it over his head. he could've sworn he had the heat on. in fact, he knew he had the heat on. he'd have to call someone in the morning to come check it out. 

he headed downstairs, turning on all the lights as he went. he was a bit uneasy in the house after the events of the day. the lights helped. he'd call jenna after going to the kitchen to get something to eat. all he'd had was an apple for the day. he'd eat some of the leftover pizza for dinner, or something of the like. just something with substance.

finally in the kitchen, tyler opened the fridge, grabbing the box of pizza and heading back upstairs. there were only really two slices left in the box, so he could use it as a plate and just toss it out when he was done. 

entering the entryway, tyler froze. the light in the hallway at the top of the stairs was off, and he knew it was on when he had come down. 

"hello?" tyler called out, staring up as he slowly creeped up the stairs. no one was there, so he flipped on the lightswitch, met with an empty hallway.

tyler was definitely beginning to get creeped out. 

his phone in his pocket buzzed and he answered without hesitation. it was jenna.

"hey ty!" her voice was muffled through the speaker. "how're things going? how was your first day there alone?" 

"it was fine," tyler commented, opting to leave out the weird events that were transpiring. she wouldn't believe him, anyways. "i got some writing done." not a total lie. 

"good!" she cheered. his stomach settled a bit. she was always good at calming him down. "do you want me to swing by tomorrow?" 

"yeah, that's fine." tyler headed into his bedroom. he could've sworn that shadow was back in there, but it vanished when he entered. "this place is kind of creepy, jen," 

"don't be a baby." she said through the speaker. "do you need me to come over?" 

"no!" tyler scoffed. "it's just got some weird vibes to it." 

"didn't the realtor mention it attracted ghosts?" 

"i don't believe in those things." 

"i know, but what if there are actually ghosts?" 

tyler snorted as he sat onto his bed. "there aren't, trust me. i'd know by now. hey, i'm gonna go eat my pizza. see you tomorrow around six?" 

"that works. have fun!" jenna's voice was calming through the speakers before the line went dead.

tyler opened his pizza box and picked up a slice. he was cautious as he ate, never taking his eye off the door. he didn't want to risk it.

nothing ever appeared.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> josh is dead.
> 
> this chapter contains mentions of self harm. be safe, please.

the next morning was eventful, but not in the way tyler had been hoping for. he was awoken at around 4 am to a loud banging noise coming from downstairs, and he raced downstairs, baseball bat in hand. the only thing he found was every single cupboard door blown open in the kitchen all at once. the room was frigid, and there was no sign of anyone in the house.

tyler could've sworn he heard giggling coming from behind him when he was closing the doors back up. it sounded exactly like josh. there was no mistaking his sound.

his suspicions were confirmed when he whipped around to see josh standing there. tyler jumped about a foot into the air, dropping the bat, letting out a loud 'fuck!' and backing against the countertops. 

"josh?" tyler finally spoke, rubbing his eyes and opening them again. josh was turning, leaving, into the hallway, and tyler ran after him desperately, following him up the steps and into the music room. 

tyler flipped the light on and he was no longer there.

"josh!" tyler yelled out, frantically, turning around to look into the hallway. it was empty, gloomy. the light from the chandelier in the hallway was flickering. the cold air had followed him despite the house temperature being set to 69 degrees. tyler was shivering and he wrapped his arms around himself. 

he turned around to turn the light off and the laptop sitting on his desk was booting up. annoyed, tyler headed over and slammed it shut. if he really was being haunted, then josh would have to let him sleep for another few hours.

he clambered back to bed, flicked the light off, and screwed his eyes shut. 

-

it was late morning when tyler finally woke up. haunted by nightmares, it was a disturbed sleep, and he was glad to finally be awake. tyler found himself sitting up in his bed and staring at the photo of him and josh he had resting on his nightstand.

"miss you." tyler said aloud, giving the photo a small smile, thinking of the early morning's escapade. he wondered if josh really was there with him as he stood up.

tyler spun around to face the door and was in fact correct when he saw josh standing in the doorway again. he was watching tyler intently, a look devoid of emotion on his face, in his usual outfit of a snapback, ripped jeans, and a hoodie. the nose ring on his left nostril glinted in the minimum amount of light coming in through the windows.

"josh?" tyler said quietly, not daring to blink, as he approached him. josh was watching him, a sad smile on his face, not moving. tyler's feet were cold against the wooden floor as he padded over to him and stood directly across from him.

josh was still staring, not saying anything.

tyler blinked, and he was still there. the air around him was significantly colder than the rest of the room. but josh looked real, which is what was throwing tyler off so badly.

josh took a step backwards and behind the doorframe and was gone when tyler poked his head out to look for him.

anxiously, tyler grabbed a sweatshirt off of his bed and headed over to the music room. the sconces on the walls were illuminating the hallways in a dreadful tone of light, dark and shadowy. the rich maroon colors of the velvet taffeta curtains were letting minimal amounts of light in through the windows. it was snowing outside, tyler noticed, and he hoped to himself that jenna would still be able to come over that afternoon.

the music room was quiet other than tylers breathing, and the whirring of his laptop's fan. he was still staring at the screen trying to figure out what to write, and only a few stray lines were coming to him here and there. they weren't enough to be a song, though, and he knew the label was going to get mad at him for not being able to produce anything.

tyler turned to stare out the window. the snow was light, fluffy, with only a thin dusting on the trees outside. maybe an inch. when had it started? it certainly wasn't snowing when he had gotten up earlier to go investigate in the kitchen.

his mind wandered to josh and what exactly had been going on. he was trying to shove it back and compartmentalize it, to not deal with it and to pretend it never happened. 

tyler had certainly never believed in ghosts, but maybe that was starting to change. would josh really even want to haunt him? why was he only randomly appearing? 

briefly he thought maybe he was going insane. that was the only real logical explanation for it. his brain wasn't working right after josh's death - jenna could attest to that - so he had to be losing it. maybe he needed to go back to his therapist after all and tell her what was going on. 

"no," tyler said to himself, shaking his head. "i'm fine now."

it wasn't entirely a lie. he was doing much better mentally than he had been in the previous few years, even though the death had taken almost everything out of him. he wasn't thinking about doing anything to hurt himself anymore, which was a personal best. 

but the whole seeing josh thing was really throwing him for a loop. what if his mental health was getting bad again? what would he do?

-

the smell of hand sanitizer was overwhelming them as they sat in the waiting room. tyler was crying, josh had his arm wrapped around tyler's shoulder, rubbing his arm in an attempt to comfort him. the chairs they were sitting on were more than uncomfortable and they had been there for over two hours.

it was getting ridiculous. josh gave a small, "i'll be back," to tyler and headed up to the nurse's station. they were the only ones in the waiting room and had been for the past 40 minutes.

"hey," josh said as he leaned onto the nurse's station's counter. "do you know how much longer we're going to have to wait? he's a mess over there." 

"it takes time," one of the nurses had responded, not looking up from her computer screen.

"we came in here because i walked in on him covered in his own blood." 

"he didn't need stitches. all the examiners are busy." she popped the gum in her mouth.

josh clenched his fist. "he was cutting himself and you're refusing to see him? what the fuck kind of hospital is this?" 

"sir, watch your language." she deadpanned, finally looking up at him. "there is a wait time no matter where you go. we only have so many rooms and most of them are for the 72 hour holding period. unless you'd like to commit him, then you'll have to wait." 

josh gave an annoyed sigh and turned on his heel, almost stomping back over and roughly sitting down in the chair again next to tyler. his back ached from the thin material and lack of support. 

tyler was looking at him with wet eyes, and his nose was bright red from crying. "what'd they say?" 

josh gave him a sad smile. "just a little longer, okay?" he leaned over, wrapping his arm around tyler again and sighing when he rested his head onto his shoulder. "love you." 

"love you too." tyler responded sadly, staring into space. his arms stung, and he was terrified of going back to see an examiner. he felt so bad for dragging josh into all of this. if only he had kept it secret for a while longer - 

"i'm glad i caught you when i did." josh said quietly. "how long has this been going on?" 

snapping out of his thoughts, tyler looked up at josh through wet eyelashes. "a while." 

"how long, ty," josh mumbled out. 

"on and off since i was fifteen." tyler admitted, sheepishly. "i stop for a while and then start again. i don't know. it's stupid," 

"it isn't stupid. you're struggling." josh remarked. "there's nothing to be ashamed of for getting help." 

tyler sighed. maybe josh was right, help was what he finally needed. had josh not found him a few hours ago things would've ended a lot worse than they did. 

both men looked up as the nurse finally called out tyler's name. hesitantly, they stood, going to head to the back.

tyler took josh's hand in an attempt to calm himself down as they pressed through the doors to the ward.

-

his hand came up to wipe the tears from his face. his head was spinning and he pulled up his sleeves of his sweatshirt to look down at his arms. the scars were mostly faded, now, covered with blocky geometric tattoos and black bands that wrapped around his forearm. but some were still noticeable, jagged white lines that cut through his tan skin. they were in parallel rows, neat, evenly spaced. 

tyler sighed. he'd never go back to that again, but he definitely missed it from time to time, especially now with the recent events. 

looking up at the clock, tyler realized it was around two in the afternoon. jenna would be there in a little under 4 hours for dinner.

tyler would have to try and cook something. 

"alright, fine," he said to himself. "let me shower first." 

standing up, tyler gently closed his laptop and headed towards the master bedroom to go shower. 

josh wasn't there on his way in.


	5. 5

the afternoon brought more snow and colder weather. tyler was almost doubting whether or not that jenna would even be coming over for dinner, until she showed up at his house at 6:03 in the afternoon, holding a tray of cookies. 

tyler had let her in and they finished making dinner together. all he had left to do was to roast some potatoes, so they did that while the lasagna he was making cooked in the old oven. he really needed new appliances still.

"so how're things going here?" jenna asked as she hoisted herself up onto the countertop, swinging her legs. the cuffs of her pant legs were wet from the snow. tyler simply shrugged in response, pulling the lasagna out of the oven, setting it onto the stovetop.

"it's different." 

"are you adjusting okay?" she asked sweetly. her eyes were glued to him, narrowed, suspicious. tyler nodded as he pulled the tin foil off of the top of the pasta dish and balled it up, tossing it into the trash can.

"better, i guess." he hesitated for a moment, staring down at the bubbling pasta sauce in the dish in front of him, before looking over at jenna. "can i tell you something and you not think i'm crazy?" 

jenna gave him a face, but nodded, urging him to continue.

tyler took a deep breath, leaning on the counter opposite of her. "i've been seeing josh." 

they stared at each other for a moment, the silence so thick it was hanging in the air like smoke. he could see the wheels behind jenna's eyes turning, trying to figure out how to respond. she stopped swinging her legs.

"ty, what do you mean?" 

he took another breath. "i mean he's here. i don't know. i've been seeing him. the realtor said this place attracted energies, right?" 

jenna stared at him for a brief moment. "so... you're saying-" 

"ghosts?"

"...ghosts," jenna paused. her manicured hands were clutching the ends of the countertop to prevent herself from falling off. "and these... ghosts, are..." she trailed off.

"it's josh." tyler finished for her. "josh!" tyler exclaimed, looking around in the air. "you can come out now!" 

jenna stared at tyler in silence as he spoke. she was thinking, trying her best to not come across as insensitive. 

"ty." she finally said. "josh is dead." 

"he's here, jenna." tyler insisted. "the lights have been flickering, the air is freezing cold whenever he's around, all of the cupboard doors were open this morning-" 

"tyler." jenna cut him off, staring at him intently. "are you okay? are you coping okay with josh's death?" her voice was small, worried. they stared at each other. her blonde hair was hanging in her eyes, and the smell of lasagna hung in the room. 

"i promise i'm not crazy." tyler swore. "i'm not seeing things, i'm not hurting myself-" 

"i didn't say that you are." jenna interrupted calmly. "i'm just a bit alarmed with how you're acting." 

"you don't understand." tyler said suddenly. they were still staring at each other and tears were welling in tyler's eyes. "he's here." 

"tyler." jenna said again. "i don't- maybe i should give you some alone time, yeah?" she suggested. tyler shook his head as she got up off the counter and brought her feet to the floor.

"we can do dinner tomorrow, instead." she suggested. she was grabbing her keys off of the counter next to her and tyler was shaking his head still as she gave him a sad smile. "i want you to be okay, and maybe you need a day to calm down-" 

"i am calm!" tyler insisted frantically. he grabbed at her arm, and jenna turned around to look at him. "please, stay, we can have dinner," 

"i have to go." jenna said quickly. "the snow is bad and all. we can do dinner tomorrow." 

she yanked her arm out of tyler's grip and strode for the front door, tyler following her all the way until she shut the front door in his face. he watched through the window as she climbed into her car and sped off. 

tyler turned around only to be met with josh standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"you," he spoke, eyebrows furrowing. "why are you here? why aren't you leaving me alone?" 

josh gave him the same sad smile he had earlier in the morning. he shook his head.

"you're dead." tyler insisted, shaking his own head. "i just want to get over you." 

josh finally opened his mouth. "you won't." 

tyler nodded angrily. "yes i will." 

josh took a step forward. "i just want to be with you." 

tyler stared at him with bated breath. his hands were trembling and he had his back against the front door. "why didn't you show yourself to jenna?" 

"she can't see me," josh said quietly, "not now, anyway. i've already tried." 

tyler stared at josh, tears running down his cheeks. the wooden door was cold against his back and it took a moment for him to realize that the rest of the room was cold, too. he didn't want josh to leave. it was the only sense of solace he had in the past few weeks. 

"i love you." josh finally spoke. the air grew colder as he stepped closer to tyler, who was just staring back at him. josh was so pale he was almost translucent. 

"i miss you." tyler said quietly. his voice cracked as it left his lips, and he slid down against the door to sit on the floor. he buried his face in his hands, a quiet sob escaping his lips. "you should never have left home. i miss you, josh," 

he looked up, expecting to find josh crouching in front of him, only to be met with an empty room. tyler let out a wail of surprise, burying his face in his hands again and crying. 

he didn't know how long he sat there. it felt like an eternity just sitting against the door, the wind howling outside. 

when tyler finally stood up, the world was pitch black outside and the snow had mostly stopped. it was barely flurrying now, multiple inches on the ground. the tracks from jenna had disappeared. 

warily, tyler padded into the kitchen, grabbing the plate of lasagna and shoving it into the fridge uncovered. he didn't much care for it anymore, and definitely wasn't hungry after what just happened.

he headed upstairs and collapsed into his bed. josh was standing at the foot of it and tyler rolled over, shoving the pillow over his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

"i'm not leaving." it was josh's voice.

"i just want to move on." tyler said quietly in response.

"come with me." josh said softly, making tyler remove the pillow and sit up to look at him.

the request was so ridiculous that tyler actually laughed. "what?" 

josh stared at him, not saying anything.

the silence between them was deafening. 

finally, tyler spoke. his voice was small. "i can do that?" 

josh nodded and vanished right before tyler's eyes.

tyler shot up out of bed. his feet were cold against the wood floor. he'd be able to be with him.

he just needed to find out how.


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tyler finds a way out.

the snow was picking up again as tyler was leaving his bedroom. his feet were slapping against the wooden floors as he entered the hallway. it was cold in the house. 

he had to find josh.

he started in the upper east wing. tyler entered all of the bedrooms, the music room, and all of the bathrooms, flinging open every single door. he was only met with dark rooms, the smell of dust, and an empty space before him. 

the curtains were billowing as tyler rushed past them. floorboards creaked beneath his feet as he stumbled to the upper west wing. the study was up there, a room tyler had never set foot in, and he opened the door. 

one of the lamps that sat on the desk was turned on and there was a book sitting on the desk. 

he cautiously approached, peering at the book. it was a book on ghosts - more specifically, the afterlife, and tyler picked it up. there were fresh finger marks on the caked on dust.

it had to be josh.

he was frantic. setting the book back down, tyler shut off the lamp and closed the door behind him. next was the library that resided upstairs. why the library and the study were two separate rooms, tyler had no idea.

he entered and looked around. josh wasn't there, and the room was mostly undisturbed, but maybe it would hold some answers. there were close to a dozen different bookcases, each with multiple shelves. books littered the floor in piles. it was stuffed to the brim. the carpet that covered the wood floor provided some much needed relief from the cold of the wood to his feet.

tyler scanned the shelves. the smell of old books was overwhelming to him as he ran his fingers along the spines, studying the titles and stopping dead in his tracks when he finally ran across a row of ones about the supernatural.

tyler pulled out a book. there was no author on it, but it was inscribed with how to access the afterlife on the front of it, and he sat down cross legged onto the floor. it was a handwritten book, no doubt written by one of the previous owners of the house.

a plume of dust shot up when tyler folded back the front cover. he stared down at it as he vaguely remembered the realtor mentioning the original owners were obsessed with the dark and macabre. she had also mentioned that one of them studied psychiatry, specifically, the human conscious. 

maybe they knew more about this than tyler could ever understand.

he scanned through the first of the pages. they were more of an introduction than anything, explaining what the afterlife was thought to be. he was looking for how to join josh.

tyler sat for the better part of an hour and read. the wind howled against the window in the room, and he was thankful he was wearing a sweatshirt. it was freezing. the heat must've gone out due to the storm. 

the first book held no true information that was useful to him, so he pulled out the next. it had the same name, but had a vol 2 scribbled hastily next to it. 

opening that book, tyler continued. it was an immediate continuation of where the first had left off. it took a bit to understand, thanks to the old style of writing and also the loopy cursive that the author had written it in.

finally, tyler stopped.

there was a pair of shoes in front of the book, and tyler looked up to see josh. josh gave him a smile and a nod, and when tyler blinked, he was gone again.

a smile came across tyler's face. he was going in the right direction. 

for those wishing to join the deceased, the book read, it is no easy feat.

step one: the person one is wishing to join must be present. 

tyler let out an exhausted laugh. of course. josh wouldn't stay for more than a few moments at a time, let alone long enough for tyler to finish reading whatever he needed to know. 

closing the book and disregarding the instructions, tyler stood up. he figured out he probably knew what to do. 

waltzing over to the desk that sat in the center of the room, tyler opened the drawers and rifled through them. if the original owners had studied this sort of stuff, he was hoping they'd potentially have more information on the subject. a way around that first step.

instead of papers, tyler found a gun. it was an old revolver. the handle was rusting, but the barrel in it spun and it was loaded. it was heavy in tylers hands. he set it on the top of the desk, thoroughly creeped out. looking up, josh was once again in front of him.

"wait!" tyler called, holding out a hand cautiously. "josh," 

josh stared at him silently. 

"how do i join you," tyler spoke softly. 

the apparition across from him smiled and disappeared. another step in the right direction.

tyler let out a sigh, both a mix of success and frustration. 

tyler grabbed the book off the floor and opened it again, scanning through the pages to find the one with the instructions.

step two: there must be something physical that belonged to the deceased. 

tyler nodded triumphantly and dog eared the page, closing the book back up. he was laughing to himself as he exited the library, partially closing the door behind him. he felt his mind breaking but he didn't care. he had an answer to the question he had been looking for for the past three weeks.

everything was spinning as tyler made his way to the music room. there was a box of josh's belongings in the closet there, ripe with potential. sitting and waiting for the day they'd see the light again.

the lightswitch was turned on and breathed life into the room, light flooding every corner. with shaky hands, he set the book down onto the desk next to his laptop and headed towards the closet, flinging it open and dropping to his knees to pull out the box that sat inside.

dust made it's way into his nose and tyler sneezed, shaking his head and letting out a quick exhale of air to rid his nose of any further irritants. he opened the box, eyes wet with tears, and started rifling around in it.

when josh had died he hadn't had the heart to get rid of most of his personal belongings. clothes were still sitting in their flat waiting to be moved into storage. his favorite knickknacks were still in their old home, collecting dust.

but tyler had brought some of the more personal stuff with him. josh's old childhood stuffed bear. the pair of drumsticks from their first concert together. the alien mask he would wear onstage. 

finally, tyler reached a small velvet box and pulled it out. the purple velvet was beginning to fade and the hinges on it were starting to rust as he opened it. josh's engagement band was inside, the cold metal dirty with fingerprints. it was a plain silver band, but on the inside had TJ & JD engraved for their initials. tyler joseph and josh dun. the couple that was torn apart far too early.

tyler sniffed, trying to clear some of the phlegm out of his sinuses, and pulled it out. it was far too big for him personally, but it would have to do. the weight of the silver was heavy in his hands as he shoved it into his pocket and stood back up. they had been engaged for four and a half months when josh was killed. 

tyler grabbed the book and opened it to the marked page.

step three: the one wishing to join the deceased must be close to them when their neuron activity ceases.

tyler knew exactly what that meant. he was laughing now, wiping away his tears with the sleeve of his hoodie, laughing, laughing, laughing. he couldn't believe he was this desperate. 

"hey, do you hear me?" tyler called out, looking around. he held his arms out as he spun in a circle, a grin on his face. 

there was no response, so tyler called out again, "don't you hear me?" 

he headed towards the door and flipped on the light of the hallway. it was empty. the time on the clock on the wall read just about midnight. 

tyler sauntered back to the library and took the gun. it was cold in his hands, the metal smooth against his palms.

he headed downstairs, looking around. josh was still nowhere in sight and the ring was taunting him in his pocket. tyler never would have dreamed of being able to be with him again. but he finally knew he was going to be. 

he was desperate to be.

book in one hand and gun in the other, tyler came to what he decided to have be his final destination: the dining hall.

he set the gun and the book down on the table and slid into one of the chairs at the very end of the table. pulling the ring out of his pocket, he set it down and waited.

the room was dim. the chandelier hanging over the table was amok with cobwebs and the crystals hanging from it needed to be washed. there was no light other than the light coming in from the entryway and the hutch on the wall was casting shadows all over the room. it was the first time tyler had really studied the contents of it.

the human skull sitting in there as a centerpiece was mildly alarming to him.

shaking his head and chuckling to himself, tyler stood back up. he'd have to bring josh to him.

speaking to himself, tyler mumbled out, "if madness overtakes us both-" 

"then nobody would be alone." a voice came from behind him, and tyler spun around. 

josh was finally back. tyler grinned, tears forming in his eyes, a laugh of disbelief coming out of his lips. 

josh stepped forward, a sad smile on his face. he brought his hand up and cupped tyler's cheek. it was freezing cold.

"the ghosts of us can linger here, forever not to disappear," he said quietly. tyler was watching him intently, still laughing to himself.

"we could be together here," tyler reasoned, blindly fumbling around with his hand on the table to pick up the gun. when he found it, he gripped onto it. taking a step back from josh, tyler looked down at it for a moment to pull the safety off. 

"forever we're," josh said softly, the smile on his face fading, and tyler could've sworn that he looked remorseful. he paused for a moment. tyler held the gun up to his temple and pressed the end of the barrel to his skin.

"together bound in madness."

he pulled the trigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the final words spoken between tyler and josh are from the song "the killing kind" by mariana's trench. this fic was based around the album that that song is off of and it felt very fitting to have the finale song be a part of the final chapter. hope you enjoyed :-)


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